Distractions Created by Smartphones When Not in Use Stats and Facts

FACTS

The biggest challenges posed by mobile phones are the attendant safety hazards. Distracted driving is the number one overall cause of workplace fatalities and mobile phones are a major cause of distraction on construction sites, in the forms of text messaging, talking and game playing.
Distracted equipment operation is very dangerous. Although most organizations that use heavy equipment have policies in place that ban cell phone us during operation, those opposed to cell phones in the workplace believe that the policies are not enough to protect workers from the perils of operating equipment while distracted.
While a hit to productivity is not a safety hazard per se, it is a concern. If cell phones are reducing the amount of focus workers are putting toward their work that is a safety concern. For example, some jobs require a lot of focus for safety.

STATS

According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 88 percent of employees have smart phones, and 77 percent of them keep their phones within reach at work. Workers admit to using them throughout the day – 39 percent check their phone several times a day.
Over half of employers (53 percent) think their company loses between one and two hours of productivity a day because employees are distracted. The biggest productivity killers are:
Cell phone/texting: 49 percent
The Internet: 38 percent
Social media: 37 percent
Gossip: 35 percent
Email: 29 percent
Co-workers dropping by: 24 percent
Smoke breaks or snack breaks: 25 percent

14% of respondents said at least one accident had occurred at their workplace because an employee was distracted by their smartphone. These accidents had serious consequences:

59% caused property damage
50% caused injury or death

Among respondents who work in an industrial setting, an even greater percentage — 26% — reported accidents had occurred in their workplace because someone was distracted by their smartphone. And these accidents were more consequential: